DC Random: Stargazing
by Side Quest Publications
Summary: Tess Morgan and Harrison Wells enjoy a date night intended to end in stargazing at the beach, until a phone call interrupts. Takes place in 2000, in Timeline 1.0, without Eobard Thawne's interference.


**I originally wrote this scene for my Flash Sideways prequel fic, What Could Have Been, to tie the fic to official canon... mostly for a sense of timing.**  
**_However_, I had no sooner completed, proofread, and posted Chapter 13 (and then made a few other edits to accommodate details I'd forgotten about the first time around), when I realized that already I'd managed to completely mess up the timing of that particular scene. See, for the timing to work out the way I have it planned, the phone call would have to come _after_ the night of stargazing, not before... and it isn't simply a matter of swapping moments around.**

**So, while I am busy trying to revise the scene so that things are timed _correctly_ in the prequel fic, I thought I'd include the original version here for any reader who might be interested in reading it. Though if you've read the chapter as soon as it was posted, you'll have already seen this version, in which case let this one-shot serve as a reminder to keep watch for when I finish correcting that chapter.**

**Leonard Snart (mentioned), Tess Morgan, and Harrison Wells (both present) all copyright DC, CW, etc.**

**Need to see the approximate order these stories take place? Check out the list on my profile!**

* * *

_Outskirts of Starling City_

"Getting late," Harrison said. "Anything else you'd like to do, my dear?"

Tess rolled her eyes at the question. As if he hadn't known the answer when he'd brought her out here. As if _he_ hadn't wanted to do the same thing. "I don't mind stargazing on the beach," she replied.

"You and your stargazing," Harrison muttered. "I thought you said _I_ was the only star you see."

Tess turned away to hide her grin. "Doctor Harrison Wells, you can't honestly tell me you're jealous of the _night sky_, can you?"

"Jealous?" he echoed. "_Me_? Impossible. I don't know the _meaning_ of the word."

He chuckled, and Tess turned to see a grin as wide as her own.

"Besides," he said, taking one of her hands and leaning close, "what would I have to be jealous of? In the vast night sky, Tess Morgan, you chose me."

Tess leaned towards him to accept the kiss.

Harrison's phone rang. "Of all the rotten sense of timing..." he groaned. "I'm sorry, it might not even be important, but it _could_ be work? I feel like I should at least see who it is."

Tess snickered. "Now I think _I'm_ the one who should be jealous."

"It's not like that," Harrison said. He kissed Tess on the forehead as he reached for his phone. "To be continued."

He took one look at the screen, and his smile vanished.

"Hello?" Harrison said into the mouthpiece. "Speaking."

Tess cocked her head as she tried to puzzle out his change in behavior.

Harrison stood up and took a few steps away from her. "You've _got_ to be kidding me," he muttered. "After what happened the last time? How did he pull that off, anyway? That shouldn't even have been possible."

His eyebrows shot up, and a full minute passed while he listened to the person on the other end.

"All right, all right. Just don't send him anywhere yet. Keep him there. I want to come in tomorrow to see him."

He scowled at whatever the other person said.

"I promise, it's not going to be like last time. I just want to _talk_ to him, all right? That's all, just to talk."

Another long pause.

"Because I want to know _why_! I just..." He sighed. "I just want him to tell me why." He nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. Thank you."

Harrison hung up the phone and stared at it for a few minutes before he pocketed it and turned his attention back to Tess.

"Sorry about that," he said with a smile. He knelt down into the sand and reached for her face. "Where were we?"

Tess flinched back from his touch. "Whatever that call was," she said, "it's upset you. I don't want you to _fake_ being happy."

Harrison sighed and dropped his arm. "The police caught someone breaking into the university again."

Tess frowned. "You mean _trying_ to break in." The security system the university had installed was designed by one of the biggest experts in the country. While the board of directors had grudgingly accepted that every system had flaws, they had been quick to assure everyone that the break-in in March could never be repeated.

"Not trying," Harrison said. "He brute-forced his way through and made it to the underground storage facility before the police showed up."

Tess's mouth dropped open. "_Brute forced_?" she echoed. "That system was designed _specifically_ with brute force hacking in mind; he'd have to have been damn lucky to get the right password combination before anyone could arrive."

Harrison shook his head. "I don't mean he tried a bunch of passwords. I _mean_ he dismantled the security panel and disconnected the power from the locks."

"Of all the..." Tess snickered in spite of the situation. "The board has been so obsessed with high-tech attacks—never mind that the last break-in happened while security was down—they never even considered that someone might try anything that simple. I have to admit, it's clever."

"What was almost as clever was him putting one of the panels back once he was in," Harrison replied. "But apparently that's how they caught him. Once he restored that power, the panel showed that the door was locked up, but the _door_ said it wasn't. It was only for an instant, but it was enough to show up as a glitch in the system, and when the guards went to investigate, they found him."

"And you want to talk to this person," Tess said. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what he was looking for or why. He could be working for the people who had broken in before; he could be as dangerous as them, _more_ dangerous, even."

"If it had been anyone else I would have agreed with you," Harrison admitted. "But in this case..." He shook his head again.

"Why?" Tess asked. "Who is..." She stopped. _After what happened the last time?_ There was only _one_ person they knew who had been in trouble with the law before, and in such circumstances that would leave Harrison more disappointed than angry that he was in trouble again. "Leonard Snart."

Harrison nodded.

"Was it really him this time?" Tess asked. "Not a new attempt at pinning the blame on him?"

"I'll grant, someone might still be going out of their way to cause him trouble," Harrison replied, "but the evidence isn't circumstantial this time. Leonard was really in there."

"Hmm. So much for stargazing on the beach." Tess gathered up a few of their belongings and walked towards the car.

"Come on, Tess!" Harrison asked. "We could still—"

"I just said, I don't want you to _fake_ being happy," Tess reminded him. "We can get a raincheck for _after_ we get answers."

"Fine." Harrison sighed. "If that's what you prefer. A raincheck will absolutely work." He joined her in packing the car, and in less than five minutes they were ready to leave.

Tess yawned loudly while Harrison navigated the road from the beach. "Sorry!" she said. "I am so tired. I think I'm just going to put on my pajamas, go straight to bed when we get home."

"Really?" Harrison asked.

"No," Tess replied. "Definitely _not_ wearing pajamas." She turned to watch her husband perk up.

"_He_llo," he said.

Tess snickered and began making plans for how the rest of their evening might go. Faking being happy was one thing, but distracting Harrison from tomorrow's potential fallout, reminding him to be happy for real, was so much more satisfying than any date night.


End file.
